It actually gets more interesting. According to Wikipedia,

"The idea for this episode came from George W. Bush announcing that he would give all Americans a $300 tax refund. This occurred shortly before the events of 9/11, which led to many people in the US forgetting about it."

As opposed to the current plan.

Random Thought...

Does all the news about how people are going to spend their tax rebates remind anyone of the Futurama episode where Nixon gave out money to everyone? Fry bought 300 cups of coffee, the Professor bought stem cells to look young, Hermes bought stilts, and Dr. Zoidberg bought hot dogs.

Toxic Local H Style

Bulls

Today seemed like an appropriate time to discuss the Bulls season thus far as we are halfway through the season and the results thus far are inconclusive. What we can see is that this season is definitely a step back. But, How? The Bulls were supposed to have improved. They made it to the 2nd round last year. The East looked up for grabs. This was the year it was to come together. They would easily win 50 games go into the playoffs and breeze until they met the Pistons, Cavs, or Celtics, right? And if they could pull off an upset they would be in the Finals. And who knows what could happen in a 7 game series. But, 1 head coach and 24 losses later the Bulls remain in and out of last place in the Central and hope just to sneak into the playoffs. Although that shouldn't be hard because they East is so bad that they are only 2 games out right now.

So what happened?
When I watched some preseason games the team looked very disinterested. Now, I chalked that up to them being preseason games, but maybe there was something to it. Also, theres the distractions of Kobe trade rumors and Luol and Gordon contract extensions not being signed. Also, as I predicted there would be injuries. Deng has and will missed extended amounts of time, Hinrich is bothered back spasms, and Duhon is now out with a knee injury.

The most disturbing thing is...
It is a systemwide failure. In the games that they have lost it seems like they are not just losing because bad nights by a couple of the guys, they are losing as a team. No one seems to be doing much of anything.

The best sign is...
They have looked like themselves on some nights. It seems like players like Thabo and Noah are growing. Nocioni is looking better and better as well.

The best characterization of the team...
Sometimes it looks like they've turned a corner like this week when they beat the Pistons, but then they go out and lose to the Grizzles. Other games it seems like that dream where your running in slow motion. It seems like whenever they need a crucial stop the other team drains a three or when a rebound needed, it is just out of reach. This is a team that can't get off the ground. With a two game winning streak as their longest, they have gotten as high as Eddy Curry can jump. Eventually you think they will be able to string a few victories together and make the playoffs.

Rework the starting line up
This is a no go since Deng will be out for an extended period, but the Bulls should put Deng at the guard position. So the starting line up would feature Hinrich, Deng, Nocioni, Smith, Walllace. You could then bring Gordon off the bench for scoring, Tyrus and Noah in for energy, Thabo in for Defense, and Duhon in for solid veteran play.

Prescription for the future
Make a trade. I was thinking this before the season. The Bulls have a lot of good mediocre talent that they should trade in for a star talent. Some potential talented players like Thabo, Thomas, and Noah are not getting the same opportunities Gordon, Deng, Nocioni, and Hinrich got to show their talent. They need to clear trade more players for a 1 or 2 quality players which should also allow the young guys to get in there. Also, it will shake things up on a team in need of shaking

Hannah

Here's a new post after a long break. I have been busy the last couple weeks so I haven't hd much time. I'm thinking about doing a theme week for next week, though. I think it will be on the Bulls so stay tuned. Anyway, due to popular demand there will be a Hannah Montana post, however I started it a few weeks ago so some of the links might not work anymore.

Believe it or not news of the concert was so large that Rosemont officials said it was the hottest concert in recent memory and the Sun-Times had a special Hannah Montana section in its website. Most of these articles are from the Sun-Times Website. The reason I find this facinating is that I don't know why she's so large.

• Why does the Sun-Times have a special section dedicated to her on their website?
  
• Why has the Governor seen every episode three times?
  
• In fact, the Governor took his daughters to see the show. He wasn't the only political person there as he went with State Senator DeLeo. One of Obama's daughters was also there.
  
• Why did someone spent $1,800 in tickets to the show?
  
• Why is it the hottest ticket in 20 years in Rosemont?
  
• Why did a mother lie about her husband being killed in Iraq to get her daughter tickets?
  
• Also, I heard in her shows she does acts as Miley and Hannah. Which brings the question, is she performing as Miley Steward or is she Miley Cyrus or is she Hannah? And a recent story says that she has a body double. So is the body double supposed to be Miley, the real Miley or Hannah? Talk about an identity crisis. This has apparently led to some controversy on the internet.
  

And now her movie is "the best-selling concert movie in Fandango's seven-year history," Best quote from that story, ""It prevents the market from getting over saturated with Hannah Montana-ism." As my friend Amanda says, "I believe that is already donezo"

Here are other stories I found:

Hannahpalooza hits town

Blagojevich has no regrets about taking daughters to concert.Tickets for next show top out at $3000.

Why those Hannah Montana tickets cost so much

Athletic Hannah lives up to hype

A backup's backstage view of the 'Hannah Montana' tour

Are driverless cars in the near future?



Forget gas there is a growing Helium crisis too. It also produced one of the funniest quotes from a Bureau of Land Management spokesman who said "that the nation's demand for helium has just ballooned in recent years,"



I always say at New Years that we are only celebrating the Earth making it around the sun one more time. However, my statement was slightly off since as of Jan 1st the Earth still had 400,000 miles to travel. Here's a pretty interesting article about the speed the Earth is traveling, 67,779 mph or 65,542 mph in July, how fast we are spinning, 1,029 mph at the equator, the shrinking calendar year, and how Oct 10, 1582 doesn't exist.

Fat corpses problem at morgues. I don't even know what to say about this article. But estimates are that "By 2010, the U.S. market could yield more than $1 billion in revenue, according to market analysts Frost & Sullivan."

According to a new report over half of doctors have prescribed placebos, meaning that well if you go to the hospital you might just be getting a sugar pill.



There could be another Harry Potter book, but it won't feature Harry. Rowling said that, "There have been times since finishing, weak moments when I've said, 'Yeah, all right, to the eighth novel.'"

In New York, a window washer survived a 47-story fall.

Across the Universe

So were back from break. It was nice not to wake up early everyday and see friends and family. I can categorize the week and a half as "ate too much and spent too much". Anyway i was able to catch one movie "Across the Universe", at the $2 theater of course.

I read reviews calling it one of the most divisive movies of the year, with people either loving it or hating it. I can certainly understand why. I'll start by saying I am not usually a fan of musicals.

The Bad
Although the movie had a plot, it was a very thin plot. When a friend of mine asked me what it was about, I had to stop and think. Many of the songs, character names, and nouns in general seemed kind of forced. (Characters named Jude, Sadie, Prudence, and Lucy) It definitely feels like the movie was written with the songs and music planned before the plot. Jude also looks like he is Paul McCartney's son. Max also looks like he could be Kurt Cobain's younger brother. It also seems to go by really fast at some points and drag on in others. The parts with Eddie Izzard and Bono are definitely drug trippy. They remind me of when I saw or tried to watch Yellow Submarine. Nikki and I agree that the Beatles think was kind of beating you over the head. I think it could have been done a little subtler, with more hidden references and not the obvious ones staring at you.

The Good
That being said, the movie and music stays remarkably true to the original music. It feels like watching many music videos. Like I said there are parts of the movie that are really drug trippy. Other parts like Let it Be, Hey Jude, and Something are quietly beautiful. They songs make you really think about the lyrics and meaning of the song. It brings a new perspective on an old song. I really liked Hey Jude, She So Heavy, If I Fell, Revolution, Let It Be, Something, and All You Need Is Love. I guarantee that if you see this movie you will at least take another listen Beatles music.

I would definitely recommend it to any Beatles fan.